Ovarian-sparing local mass excision for ovarian fibroma/fibrothecoma in premenopausal women.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the recurrence rate of ovarian fibroma/fibrothecoma and reproductive outcomes following ovarian-sparing local mass excision in premenopausal women. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study was performed at two gynecologic surgery centers using data collected between January 2005 and December 2011. It included premenopausal patients treated with ovarian-sparing local mass excision and pathologically proven ovarian fibroma/fibrothecoma who were followed up for at least 6 months. The recurrence of fibroma/fibrothecoma and pregnancy outcomes in those who wanted to conceive after local mass excision were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients (n=50) was 33.3±6.9 years (range, 20-50 years), and the mean follow-up duration was 26.6±19.2 months (range, 6-88 months). Fibroma was present in 40 patients, fibrothecoma in 7, and cellular fibroma in 3. Natural conception occurred in 11 of the 12 patients who became pregnant during the follow-up period. On follow-up ultrasonography, one patient experienced recurrent disease, 50 months after initial surgery, resulting in a crude overall recurrence rate of only 2%. CONCLUSION: Given the 2% recurrence rate of ovarian fibroma/fibrothecoma following ovarian sparing local mass excision, local mass excision appears to be an effective surgical option in women of reproductive age.

Clinical characteristics and surgical management options for ovarian fibroma/fibrothecoma: a study of 97 cases.

AIMS: The aims of this study were to analyze the clinical characteristics, diagnostic features, and operative outcomes of patients with ovarian fibroma/fibrothecoma and to discuss appropriate management options. METHODS: We performed a retrospective comparative analysis of 97 patients with ovarian fibroma/fibrothecoma who underwent laparoscopic and laparotomic procedures, including tumorectomy between January 2008 and December 2011. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 42.5 ± 11.4 years. Seventy-three patients (75.3%) were premenopausal women. A preoperative diagnosis of benign ovarian tumor or fibroma was made in only 49 cases (50.5%). We found that 42.2% of cases were misdiagnosed as uterine myomas (n = 41) and 6.2% were misdiagnosed as malignant ovarian tumors (n = 6). The presence of ascites was associated with larger tumor size (p < 0.05) but not higher CA125 levels (p = 0.159). Twenty-nine patients (29.9%) underwent laparotomy, and 68 (70.1%), laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgery facilitated shorter operation times than laparotomy (p < 0.05). Tumorectomy was performed in 40 patients (43.5%), 36 (90%) of whom underwent laparoscopy with operative outcomes comparable to those of patients who underwent laparotomy. CONCLUSIONS: Ovarian fibromas/fibrothecomas are often misdiagnosed as uterine myomas and malignant ovarian tumors. Laparoscopic surgery including tumorectomy may be an effective surgical approach in patients with ovarian fibromas/fibrothecomas.

Simplifying laparoscopic running suture line utilizing "Puller" technique: demonstration in laparoscopic myomectomy.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic myomectomy (LM) has increased recently as treatment options for symptomatic uterine myomas for a patient who wants to preserve her uterus. However, adequate suture of the uterine defect is difficult in LM, even for an experienced surgeon. The most time-consuming step of LM is the suturing procedure. The suture material can tangle easily and disentanglement is time-consuming. We introduce a simple but highly effective instrument named "Puller" for continuous intracorporeal suturing in LM. METHODS: After completion of myoma enucleation, the operator sutures the uterine defect with suture material in continuous manner. The tip of "Puller" looks like a hook. During the suture, the first assistant inserts the "Puller" on the suprapubic site and sets the suture material on the hook and pulls it extracorporeally. After one stitch, the operator pulls the suture material intracorporeally, and then the first assistant pulls the sutured portion of the thread extracorporeally with "Puller" and holds the stitch to maintain the adequate tension during the repair. RESULTS: From January 2011 to October 2011, 88 patients who were diagnosed with uterine myoma underwent LM using "Puller" by a single surgeon. The mean diameter of the myoma was 6.8 ± 2.1 cm, and multiple myomas were observed in 46 cases (52.3 %). As a result, the mean operation time was 65.0 ± 22.1 min, the estimated blood loss was 173.9 ± 179.8 ml. Mean weight of removed myoma was 141.5 ± 105.7 g. Postoperative febrile morbidity (body temperature higher than 37.7 °C) was observed in 15 patients (17 %). However, no patients had conversion to laparotomy and needed blood transfusion. There were no major complications that required reoperation or readmission. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic myomectomy can be performed easily and effectively by using the "Puller" technique with standard instruments. Additionally, this "Puller" technique could be adopted in all minimally invasive surgery needed running suture for hemostasis and closure.

Ovarian leiomyoma as a potential cause of compromised fertility.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze cases of ovarian leiomyomas and to discuss the proper surgical management. DESIGN: A case series and discussion. SETTING: General university hospital and healthcare center. PATIENT(S): Nine patients who were diagnosed with ovarian leiomyomas after surgery between 1993 and 2009. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): A preoperative diagnosis that was matched to the postoperative diagnosis and the type of surgery. RESULT(S): In all cases, ovarian leiomyoma was misdiagnosed preoperatively as pedunculated uterine myoma, ovarian fibroma, or even ovarian endometrioma. Seven (77.8%) of the nine patients underwent a salpingo-oophorectomy or an oophorectomy with or without hysterectomy, and only two (22.2%) patients were submitted to an ovary-preserving surgery (i.e., a cystectomy or ovarian wedge resection). CONCLUSION(S): Because of their extreme rarity, ovarian leiomyomas are seldom suspected intraoperatively or preoperatively. However, most of these tumors appear at reproductive age and have a benign nature, similar to uterine myomas. Therefore, surgeons should perform ovary-preserving management, especially in young patients.

Pelvic organ support and prevalence by Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification (POP-Q) in Korean women.

PURPOSE: We evaluated pelvic organ support and the prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse in Korean women using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification system as the assessment tool. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 713 women 18 to 72 years old who were seen for annual Papanicolaou testing and pelvic examinations. Pregnant patients and patients who had delivered within the previous 6 weeks were not recruited. All pelvic examinations were performed by a single examiner. The patient was examined in the dorsal lithotomy position in a pelvic examination chair positioned at a 15-degree angle. All 9 measurements except total vaginal length were taken with the patient performing the maximal Valsalva maneuver. RESULTS: Mean patient age was 41.6 years (range 18 to 72), mean weight +/- SD was 55.8 +/- 7.4 kg (range 40 to 83), mean height was 158.7 +/- 5.4 cm (range 138 to 177), mean body mass index was 22.3 +/- 8.1 kg/m2 (range 15.7 to 32) and median parity was 2 (range 0 to 6). Mean scores for the position of the cervix and posterior fornix, and total vaginal length were -5.0, -6.6 and 7.0 cm, respectively. In the 713 women with a uterus the incidence of anterior vaginal, uterine and posterior vaginal prolapse was 27.6%, 2.0% and 25.4%, respectively. The overall distribution of pelvic organ prolapse quantification system stage was stages 0 to 4 in 68.3%, 19.9%, 11.2%, 0.6% and 0.0% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal size in Korean women differs from that in Western women. The prevalence of any degree of prolapse was approximately 31.7%. Korean women were at relatively higher risk for anterior and posterior vaginal prolapse than for uterine prolapse.